One of my favorite aspects of the Christmas celebration is the Christmas Tree itself. It’s the main decoration of our house. In fact, for our family, buying it and setting it up—officially begin the Christmas season. And I don’t know about you guys but I’m always eager for Christmas to start so we have always put our tree up as soon as possible. Usually the Saturday after Thanksgiving the hunt for that year’s tree begins. When our children were with us we would go out and cut one—and back in those days we had a lot of fun searching through a “tree orchard” up in Damascus. But since the kids have grown up and moved out, Sue and I go to GOOD EARTH or HOME DEPOT or LOWES—and then of course, our search is more limited. But finding the right tree is still a major part of our celebration.
Well, as much as I love GETTING the tree—I dread SETTING IT UP in its stand—because it is always such a stress-inducing challenge. Over the years, in futile attempts to eliminate that stress, we’ve gone through numerous Christmas tree stands—all of them claiming to be fool-proof—none of them living up to that claim. I mean, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve put the tree in its stand and placed it in our family room—only to find it crooked. When that happens, I loosen the screws, push the tree straight—and then Sue holds it straight while I crawl under those sappy branches and tighten and retighten the screws—while pine needles fill my ears. Sometimes the tree stands straight for a moment—but then it tilts—and we’re back to square one. Numerous Christmases I have had to actually take the tree back out of the stand to trim more branches so the screws in the stand will hit the right place on the trunk so that it will be vertical.
One night about five Christmases ago—I think it was a Saturday—Sue and I got the tree to stand straight—after several attempts. And then we proceeded to decorate. First the lights—then the ornaments—then the cranberry ropes and the bows. We worked for hours and finished about 11PM. Everything looked perfect—Christmas had begun! Well, we turned out the lights and were heading up the stairs to bed when I heard a “ker-thump” sound and turned to see the entire tree had fallen on the floor. Broken ornaments and pine needles and tangled tinsel and lights were everywhere. We groaned a few minutes and then put it back in the stand once more—got it straight—and re-decorated—finishing a little after 1am.
Can any of you relate? Have you got any stories like that? I mean, do you love Christmas—but DREAD this task? Does PUTTING the tree up make your blood pressure spike? Lucado says something about this in his book, “Only a few people have won the U.S. Open, completed an Ironman triathlon, or qualified as Rhodes Scholars. Fewer still have positioned a Christmas Tree so that it doesn’t lean.”
I mention all this because believe it or not certain aspects of finding and putting up the Christmas tree have parallels—in our spiritual lives. And once again, let me remind you that this series is based on a book by Max Lucado, Because of Bethlehem.
(1) Here’s the first. Just as we pick the tree that fits our specific houses, God PICKED each of us for a specific purpose.
And as I said, we do this with Christmas trees. Each year we walk the rows—lift the branches—we inspect the tree’s shape because we know the room where the tree will be placed. We know how much space it can take up. We know how high our ceiling is and so the tree can’t be any taller. We know how heavy the ornaments are and we pick a tree with branches that can hold them. We chose the specific tree for all these specific purposes.
Well, God does the same with us. Lucado writes, “He knows the place where you’ll be placed. He has a barren ‘living room’ in desperate need of warmth and joy. A corner of the world needs some color. He selected you—made you—with that in mind.”
I’m reminded of the words of King David who wrote, “God, You made my whole being; You formed me in my mother’s body. I praise You because You made me in an amazing and wonderful way. What You have done is wonderful. All the days planned for me were written in Your book before I was one day old.” (Psalm 139) The humbling fact is, God made each of you on purpose with a purpose. I mean, when He created you—designed you—He interwove calendar and character, circumstance and personality to create the right person for the right corner of the world—the corner where He knew you would live. I’m saying God has a plan for every life—and He formed us for that plan. As Job 12:10 says, “It is God Who directs the lives of His creatures; everyone’s life is in His power.” (NLT) You and I were made BY God—FOR God—made to further His kingdom in a particular way. Living our life for God’s purposes is the only way our lives have true meaning. As Ephesians 1:11 says, “It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ—He had His eyes on us—had designs on us for glorious living—part of the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone.” (THE MESSAGE)
Andrei Bitov, a Russian novelist, grew up under an atheistic Communist regime. But God got his attention one dreary day. He writes, “In my 27th year, while riding the metro in Leningrad I was overcome with a despair so great that life seemed to stop at once, preempting the future entirely, let alone any meaning. Suddenly, all by itself, a phrase appeared: ‘WITHOUT GOD LIVE MAKES NO SENSE.’ Repeating it in astonishment, I rode the phrase up like a moving staircase, got out of the metro and walked into God’s light. I put my faith in Jesus.”
God made each of us for a purpose—Coming to know Him through faith in His Son—and then fulfilling that purpose—brings our life meaning.
(2) Here’s a second Christmas Tree Parallel: God shapes us—prunes us.
I don’t know if you realize it but Christmas tress don’t naturally grow to that perfect angle we love. They aren’t naturally symmetrical. No—Christmas Tree farmers work throughout the life of the tree constantly trimming and pruning to make them as perfectly shaped as possible—so as to get a high price.
Well, God does the same thing with us as Christians. In John 15:1-2 Jesus said, “My Father is the gardener…He trims and cleans every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce even more.” As Paul puts it—and this is my paraphrase, “God uses all things to shape us for the good—to make us more Christlike.”
For example, God uses suffering to produce character—and character produces hope. As James 1:3 says God uses tough times to “produce perseverance.” This leads us to “become mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Like a perfectly shaped Christmas Tree—God’s plan is to work throughout our lives to make us just like Jesus.
(3) And then as we trim our trees, God DECORATES us.
As we mature—become more Christlike—God hangs the fruit of the spirit on us—ornaments known as love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness and self-control.
And—in the same way no Christmas tree would be complete without the lights God empowers us to shine the light of His love. In fact, the Bible commands us to do that—to let our light so shine that people see our shining—see our good works and praise our Heavenly Father.
So—God pics us—plans us for a specific purpose. He prunes us—decorates us so that we are more like His Son.
(4) But here’s the MAIN parallel between us and the Christmas Tree; God purchased us.
We pay a high price these days to purchase a live tree. We even have to tip the guy who wraps it and loads it for us. I mean, the Christmas Tree itself is a large part of most family Christmas budgets.
Well, there is a very real sense in which God could say the same thing about you and me. As 1st Corinthians 6:20 says, “God bought you with a high price.” Of course, this refers to the fact that God sent Jesus to earth that first Christmas night to pay the price for our sins. And—we needed Him to do that because, like all Christmas trees we are imperfect. Parts of our lives are bare—like the sides of some Christmas trees. Plus, we tend to LEAN. We don’t stand straight. Let me put it this way. We each have an inborn “bent” toward sin. That’ why Jesus came. 1st John 4:10 says, “God loved us and sent His unique Son on a special mission to become the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus took on our sin. He was covered by the rebellion that separated us from God. He endured what we should have endured. He paid the price to save us.”
You know, most kingdoms do anything they can to protect their king. This is the unspoken premise of the game of chess, for example. When the king falls, the kingdom is lost. Therefore, the king must be protected at all costs. Another notable example of this principle comes from the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill desperately wanted to join the expeditionary forces and watch the invasion from the bridge of a battleship in the English Channel. U.S. General Dwight David Eisenhower was desperate to stop him, for fear that the Prime Minister might be killed in battle.
When it became apparent that Churchill would not be dissuaded, Eisenhower appealed to a higher authority: King George VI. The king went and told Churchill that if it was the Prime Minister’s duty to witness the invasion, he could only conclude that it was also his own duty as king to join him on the battleship. At this point Churchill reluctantly agreed to back down, for he knew that he could never expose the King of England to such danger. Well, King Jesus did exactly the opposite. He went to the front of the lines in the battle we fight with sin and death.
Once there He surrendered His body to the enemy—surrendered it to be crucified. On the cross He offered an incredible price—literally a king’s ransom: His life for the life of sinful humanity.
He died for all the wrong things that we have ever done and ever will do, completely atoning for all our sins. Jesus purchased our redemption!
Jesus purchased our redemption! That’s what Christmas is all about.
This week I heard a new Christmas song by the group known as Go Fish. Here are the lyrics:
It’s not just about the manger where the baby lay.
It’s not all about the angels who sang for him that day.
It’s not just about the shepherds or the bright and shining star.
It’s not all about the wise men who traveled from afar.
It’s not just about the presents underneath the tree.
It’s not all about the feeling that the season brings to me.
It’s not just about coming home to be with those you love.
It’s not all about the beauty in the snow I’m dreaming of.
It’s about the cross.
It’s about my sin.
It’s about how Jesus came to be born once–so that we could be born again.
It’s about the stone that was rolled away so that you and I could have real life someday
It’s about the cross It’s about the cross.”
Now—as you may know, the Bible refers to the cross as a TREE. 1st Peter 2:24 says, “Jesus Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree.” So—in a very real sense the cross was the first CHRISTMAS TREE. Lucado writes, “If Christmas trees are known for beauty and gifts, then who would deny that the most wonderful Christmas tree was a rugged one on a bald knob.”
Every Christmas Eve here at Redland we partake in communion—to remind us all that Jesus died on the cross—died on that tree for us. As we celebrate in this way, let me invite all Christians present to partake with us. Even if you are not a member of this church….If you are a Christian…if you are His, this is Yours.
THE ORDINANCE OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
You know—there is one more Christmas Tree Parallel that I want to mention and it’s this.
(5) God PLANTS US.
In the same way that Christmas Tree farmers plant their seedlings in the right place—plant them where they’ll get just the right amount of sun and rain—God plants people. He does so just as intentionally. In His amazing grace He puts each of us in the best place for us to that Jesus died on that tree for our sin—understand and respond to His great love. I mean, God intentionally placed each human where they could best learn of and respond to God’s great love. In Acts 17 Paul says, God, “Marked out our appointed times in history and the boundaries of our lands. God did this so that we would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.”
If you are here tonight and are not a Christian—then listen—that is not by accident. God brought you here—in His great love He “planted” you in this service. If that applies to you please come talk to me or Kevin after the service. We would love to tell you how you can receive God’s indescribable Christmas gift tonight—by becoming a Christian.